We Must Align Servicing With Customer Expectations By Steve Irwin, President, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association CUSTOMERS ARE CONTINUALLY raising the bar on what they expect from their service providers. We all look to have what we want and need, faster, better and cheaper. We operate in the times referred to by marketing guru Regis McKenna as the age of the “never satisfied customer.” We are fooling ourselves if we don’t think this axiom doesn’t also refer to reverse mortgage borrowers, their families and their trusted advisers. A surefire recipe for exacerbating customer dissatisfaction is misaligning the customers’ expectations with the actual service that can be delivered. Often, there is a disconnect between the expectations of a reverse mortgage client when their loan is transferred to the loan servicing team and the policies and procedures required of that loan servicing team. It is incumbent on us all—and in the plainest language possible—to clearly define and describe how the loan works and the responsibilities the borrower carries into the reverse mortgage transaction. The expectation of the client needs to be properly set against the service that can be delivered to that client. Fortunately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created its You have a reverse mortgage: Know your rights and responsibilities guide. This helpful tool, from an independent voice, can help us all properly set expectations. While NRMLA is looking at suggesting updates, it is still a useful tool, and we should share this document every chance we get. It should be used as a “leave-behind” and be included in the closing package. It should be shared with referral partners and prospects. It should become part of the larger understanding of our product category. (This guide is available to download for free at https://bit.ly/4bEvLGW.) NRMLA has also developed materials its members can download for free (reversemortgage.org/about/ consumer-guides/). What You Need to Know About Your HECM After Closing and our What Do I Do When My Loan Is Due? further serve to properly set clients’ expectations after the loan closes and is transferred to the “administration” phase. Please share these guides with your clients, their family members and their trusted advisers. I would urge you to let us know if we could develop any additional materials that might help properly set client expectations, or if any of these existing guides could use refining. The more we do to align customer expectations with the realities of the loan servicing life cycle, the better our industry perceptions will be. It’s hard enough to meet the ever-changing needs of the customer. Customer expectations need to be established in a way that sets your servicer up for success. Moving Forward Steve Irwin “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”—Joseph Campbell, U.S. author and academic expert in the field of comparative mythology 4 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY-AUGUST 2024
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ1MzY1